Is there anything I cant name my child?
Derogatory or obscene names are banned in California. Only the 26 characters of the English alphabet are allowed, which rules out umlauts and others. Pictographs such as smiley faces or ideograms such as a “thumbs-up” sign are specifically banned.
The law bans names that contain “obscenity, numerals, symbols, or a combination of letters, numerals, or symbols…”, but naming a child after a mass murderer is A-OK. In most cases, the United States is pretty relaxed about what you can name your child when it comes to the stigma or meaning a name may carry.
The United States has very few laws governing given names. This freedom has given rise to a wide variety of names and naming trends.
United Kingdom. The UK has no law restricting names, but names that contain obscenities, numerals, misleading titles, or are impossible to pronounce are likely to be rejected by the Registering Officer, when registering a child.
Banned Names in the US
Although there are certain states with no naming laws at all —such as Kentucky— in most states, these names would be prohibited. Here are some examples of illegal names in the United States: Jesus Christ. Harry 3.
While the United States does not have a formal policy on titles, other countries do. Duke, Prince, King, and Queen are prohibited. Sir Shrek is a name that can be found all over the place.
- Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii (New Zealand)
- Chief Maximus (New Zealand)
- Robocop (Mexico)
- Sex Fruit (New Zealand)
- Linda (Saudi Arabia)
- Snake (Malaysia)
- Friday (Italy)
- Islam (China)
The law bans names that contain “obscenity, numerals, symbols, or a combination of letters, numerals, or symbols…”, but naming a child after a mass murderer is A-OK. In most cases, the United States is pretty relaxed about what you can name your child when it comes to the stigma or meaning a name may carry.
Illegal in the United States
But in many other countries, title names—including Duke, Prince, King, and Queen—are banned. But what about made-up titles like Khaleesi?
Parents cannot include a numeral in a child's name in any state, which means a name like "J1m" wouldn't be illegal.
Can you legally have no first name?
First name and surname
Each part has a different legal basis and history. (For most people — your title is not a part of your legal name. A title of nobility though is different — it's another separate part of your legal name.) It isn't a legal requirement to have either a first name or a surname.
In the United States, going without a name is not inherently illegal. Police won't arrest you for not having a name. But you can't legally identify yourself without one, which would make things difficult for you.
Hermione
The Greek name, which means “well born,” predates the studious witch in the Harry Potter series. Nonetheless, Sonora has determined that the modern pop culture connotations make the name unsuitable for kids.
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A name that is obscene or offensive
- Swear words.
- Descriptions of lewd or sexual acts.
- Racial, ethnic or cultural slurs or that imply racial, ethnic or cultural slurs.
From Sex Fruit to 4Real, bizarre baby names have caused legal wrangling across the world. A couple in France have been banned from naming their daughter Nutella, after the hazelnut spread, to prevent her from being mocked later in life.
Additionally, they must use the standard 26-letter English alphabet. According to the province, "Greek letters, Inuit letters, Arabic script or Kanji are not acceptable." Pictograms, codes, hieroglyphics, numbers, symbols, slashes, commas and more are banned.